WEBVTT Kind: captions; Language: en 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:29.001 [...] 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:42.001 The Blue Waters of the Caribbean Sea South of the United States, the blue waters 00:00:42.001 --> 00:00:46.000 of the Caribbean Sea once were known as the Spanish Main. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:50.000 This was because fanirids sailed along these shores. 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:56.000 Today, fast white steamships travel across the Caribbean with cargoes more 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:57.001 valuable than pirates' gold. 00:00:58.001 --> 00:01:02.001 Officers and trim white ships and white uniforms pick up their golden cargoes 00:01:02.001 --> 00:01:04.001 from a place we call Banana Land. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:13.001 This land, as you see on the map, extends from Mexico on the north, includes 00:01:13.001 --> 00:01:19.001 Guatemala and Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama, Colombia on the northern coast of 00:01:19.001 --> 00:01:25.000 South America, and the islands of Cuba, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. 00:01:27.001 --> 00:01:31.001 Some of the capital cities of Banana Land are as large as Jacksonville, 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.000 Florida, or Fort Worth, Texas. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:37.000 This is Guatemala City, as seen from the air. 00:01:39.001 --> 00:01:44.000 The streets and public squares are well laid out and beautifully planned. 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:50.001 Some of the cities of Banana Land are cities of strange contrast because they 00:01:50.001 --> 00:01:53.001 have been destroyed by earthquakes and since rebuilt. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:57.000 Side by side, you will find the old and the new. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:01:59.001 Many of the buildings are of stucco. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.000 The streets, however, are still quaint and typically Spanish-American. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:12.001 It is not unusual to see women with baskets on their heads 00:02:12.001 --> 00:02:14.000 outdoing the family marketing. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:21.000 Many North American firms do business here. 00:02:21.001 --> 00:02:25.001 In modern stores, you can buy things imported from the United States. 00:02:27.001 --> 00:02:30.001 People who live in the city dress very much like the people 00:02:30.001 --> 00:02:32.000 in our own southern states. 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:35.001 There are many churches and people go to church regularly. 00:02:36.001 --> 00:02:40.000 They speak Spanish, of course, as most of them are of Spanish descent. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.001 If you wanted to greet them, you would say buenos días, 00:02:43.001 --> 00:02:45.001 which means in Spanish, good day. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:47.001 The people are very polite. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:57.000 Sweet frozen ice is as popular as our own ice cream. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:01.001 Every public square has its public water fountain, a watering trough. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:07.000 These women are filling their homemade jars with water just as their ancestors 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.000 have done for hundreds of years. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:19.000 In all middle American cities, the market is a very busy place. 00:03:19.001 --> 00:03:22.000 Here you see all kinds of strange sites. 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:26.000 Most of the farmers who live around the city are Indians. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:31.001 Each morning they come into the city bringing hand-woven blankets, handmade pots 00:03:31.001 --> 00:03:35.001 and leather goods, fruits and vegetables from their small farms. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:38.001 Do you like ripe melons? 00:03:42.001 --> 00:03:43.001 Ripe red tomatoes? 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:46.001 White colored peppers? 00:03:47.001 --> 00:03:50.000 Or perhaps potatoes? 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:54.001 So you see the foods they eat are not unlike those in our own country. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:00.000 But now we've left the city for a trip into the highlands. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.001 There in the distance is one of the many volcanoes to 00:04:03.001 --> 00:04:05.000 be found in this part of the world. 00:04:13.001 --> 00:04:17.000 In the highlands we find mostly all the people are Indians. 00:04:18.001 --> 00:04:21.001 Their transportation is primitive, old-fashioned. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:25.000 They believe in doing things as their fathers did them. 00:04:25.001 --> 00:04:29.001 And their fathers were here long before the Spaniards came 400 years ago. 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:35.000 Some of the Indians cannot even speak the language of a neighboring tribe. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:39.000 But when they get to market, they will have no trouble selling their wares. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.000 Just as soon as this old man hurries by, we'll take you into the next town. 00:04:47.001 --> 00:04:54.000 Water is not as plentiful as it is in most North American cities. 00:04:54.001 --> 00:04:58.000 A pool and a public square serves as a community laundry. 00:04:59.001 --> 00:05:02.000 Children here do a lot more of the family work than most of 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.001 our parents ask us to do. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:05.001 It is a part of their education. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:11.000 Have you ever heard of the ancient Maya? 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.001 It is spelled M-A-Y-A. 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.001 These people are descendants of the Maya Indians and are said to be the oldest 00:05:19.001 --> 00:05:22.000 civilized people in the Western Hemisphere. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:27.001 When the Spaniards came and conquered the Maya, they found brilliant costumes, 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.000 art, and a culture unknown even in Europe at that time. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:36.000 So now it is believed that the civilization of the ancient Maya may be 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:38.000 among the oldest in the world. 00:05:38.001 --> 00:05:41.001 These then are among the very first Americans. 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:52.000 Today Indians grow maize or corn just as we have learned to do. 00:05:52.001 --> 00:05:54.001 That is their principal food crop. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:03.001 Only a few have their own cattle, and the farmer who 00:06:03.001 --> 00:06:05.000 owns an ox is a rich man. 00:06:05.001 --> 00:06:09.001 As you can see, their way of farming is very simple compared to ours. 00:06:12.001 --> 00:06:17.001 On higher ground, we find the cocoa tree. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:20.000 In Spanish it is called cacao. 00:06:20.001 --> 00:06:22.000 Here is a cacao pod. 00:06:22.001 --> 00:06:24.001 The bean grows in this pod. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:28.000 It is from this bean that we get our cocoa and chocolate. 00:06:28.001 --> 00:06:32.000 The sharp knife he uses to open the pod is called a machete. 00:06:32.001 --> 00:06:35.000 Now you have learned another Spanish word. 00:06:37.001 --> 00:06:41.001 After the cocoa beans are spread out in the sun to dry, they are packed in bags 00:06:41.001 --> 00:06:43.001 and shipped to countries all over the world. 00:06:44.001 --> 00:06:48.001 People drink a great deal of cocoa, but Americans drink more coffee. 00:06:51.001 --> 00:06:54.000 Here are coffee beans being stripped from a bush. 00:06:55.001 --> 00:06:58.000 Did you know that they look like little red berries? 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:00.001 Well, that is the way coffee grows. 00:07:00.001 --> 00:07:04.001 You might almost think they were cherries or cranberries. 00:07:07.001 --> 00:07:12.000 Although we call them coffee beans, they really are seeds that 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:13.001 grow inside their red fruit. 00:07:18.001 --> 00:07:24.000 Coffee is one of the biggest exports of middle America. 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:29.000 Large plantations may have a million trees and employ thousands of workers. 00:07:29.001 --> 00:07:33.001 Coffee grows best on high ground with good drainage and is 00:07:33.001 --> 00:07:35.000 found only in the tropics. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.001 Carts first bring the ripe berries or seeds to drying pits where 00:07:39.001 --> 00:07:41.000 they are unloaded to dry in the sun. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:52.000 Here is a typical drying plant 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:54.001 where coffee beans are spread out in the sun. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:57.000 The outer hulls are removed by washing. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.000 Here you see men pushing the beans through a watering trough. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.000 This washes away the hulls or outer parchment. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.000 When they are thoroughly washed, they are spread out in the sun to dry. 00:08:09.001 --> 00:08:14.001 After they turn green in the sun, the beans are split, packed into bags, and 00:08:14.001 --> 00:08:16.001 shipped to coffee roasters all over the world. 00:08:17.001 --> 00:08:19.001 We all know what happens to coffee after that. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:27.000 Now huge streams of water being sprayed over a banana plantation is our first 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:31.000 introduction to why this rich area is called banana land. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.000 Banana plants need a great deal of water. 00:08:34.001 --> 00:08:38.000 In the dry season, they have to be watered in this overhead way. 00:08:40.001 --> 00:08:44.000 Another method of bringing water to the plants is by surface canals. 00:08:44.001 --> 00:08:46.000 This is called irrigation. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:56.000 Here is a large banana plantation. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.001 Now before we go any further, let's take a look and see where 00:09:00.001 --> 00:09:02.001 bananas first came from. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:08.000 Bananas originally came from the moist tropical region of southern Asia. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:10.001 Alexander the Great found them here. 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:14.000 In time, banana roots were taken from their original 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:16.000 home to the east coast of Africa. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:21.000 From here, the banana was carried westward across Africa by the Arabs. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:26.000 Portuguese explorers, before the time of Columbus, found them growing here and 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.000 took them to the Canary Islands off the North African coast. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:35.000 Around the year 1516, Father Tomas de Bellanga brought them to the islands of the 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.001 West Indies and later to the mainland of what we call Middle America. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:53.001 Now after clearing the jungle, here's how the banana is planted. 00:09:54.001 --> 00:09:58.000 Holes are dug a foot deep and 15 to 18 feet apart. 00:09:58.001 --> 00:10:02.001 A banana root, a bit looking very much like a tree stump and weighing 3 to 5 00:10:02.001 --> 00:10:04.001 pounds, is planted in each hole. 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:10.000 Each root has two or more eyes like the eyes of a potato. 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:14.000 Here's how the root would look if you could see it in the ground. 00:10:14.001 --> 00:10:19.000 Each bud or eye on these underground stems can develop into a 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:20.001 plant or shoot with leaves. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:26.000 From these sprout many cord-like roots which grow in all directions. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.001 They absorb water and minerals from the soil. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.000 The first leaf appears above the ground three or four weeks after planting. 00:10:34.001 --> 00:10:38.001 Only the stronger shoots are allowed to grow. The others are cut away. 00:10:39.001 --> 00:10:43.001 In about six months the plants are more than 10 feet high. 00:10:44.001 --> 00:10:47.001 And at nine months they are ready to blossom. 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:55.001 About 10 months after planting, the flower has appeared at the top of the tall 00:10:55.001 --> 00:10:58.000 stalk, and as it grows it turns downward. 00:11:00.001 --> 00:11:02.000 Small bananas soon appear. 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:06.001 As the bananas grow, they turn upwards toward the light. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:15.001 At the end of about 14 months the bunch is fully developed and ready to harvest. 00:11:16.001 --> 00:11:20.001 The stem which bears the bunch of fruit grows up through the center of the stalk 00:11:20.001 --> 00:11:22.000 and comes out on top. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:30.000 So you see the young banana plant looks like a tree, but it is not a 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:31.001 tree because there is no wood. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:35.001 The trunk of stalk consists only of overlapping leaf sheaths. 00:11:35.001 --> 00:11:40.000 And as you saw on the chart, each plant bears only a single bunch of bananas. 00:11:40.001 --> 00:11:45.000 Bananas are harvested the year round. The men usually work in teams of three. 00:11:45.001 --> 00:11:49.000 One is called a cutter. Here is a team starting out to work. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:12:00.000 The cutter uses a sharp-edged tool on the end of a pole to nick the 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:01.001 plant a few feet below the bunch. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:02.001 See how he does it? 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.000 As the plant bends, the bunch comes down on the shoulder of 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:10.000 another man who is called a backer. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.001 Each bunch weighs from 50 to 75 pounds. 00:12:14.001 --> 00:12:17.000 When a man has to carry this load on his back, it is easy to 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.000 understand why he is called a backer. 00:12:20.001 --> 00:12:23.001 The fruit must be cut at just the right stage of growth. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.001 When the bananas are not too fat and not too thin, each plant is cut down 00:12:28.001 --> 00:12:30.000 when its bunch has been harvested. 00:12:30.001 --> 00:12:33.001 The bunch is made up of clusters called hands. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:40.000 Each hand has from 12 to 20 bananas, and each bunch has from 6 to 14 hands. 00:12:40.001 --> 00:12:42.001 Now, how many bananas are in the bunch? 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.000 The bunches are laid carefully on padding to keep them from being bruised. 00:12:50.001 --> 00:12:54.001 Rough handling at this point leaves bruised marks on the tender fruit. 00:12:57.001 --> 00:13:01.001 The whole operation right from the first cutting is planned and timed. 00:13:02.001 --> 00:13:06.001 Far from the moment the truck arrives to start the bananas on their way to you, 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:08.001 everything runs on schedule. 00:13:10.001 --> 00:13:15.000 Even as the bananas are loaded for the first stage of their journey, a ship of 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.001 the Great White Fleet is on its way, scheduled to make port at the same time the 00:13:19.001 --> 00:13:21.000 bananas arrive from the plantation. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:27.001 Notice how padding is placed over the bunches at all times to protect them from 00:13:27.001 --> 00:13:31.000 the sun, to keep them from being scarred by rough handling. 00:13:43.001 --> 00:13:48.001 Here is a tractor trailer on its way to a place on the plantation where each 00:13:48.001 --> 00:13:52.001 bunch of bananas will be washed and inspected before being loaded into freight 00:13:52.001 --> 00:13:55.001 cars for the trip down to the coast on the waiting steamship. 00:14:04.001 --> 00:14:07.001 See how each bunch is dipped several times. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:10.001 Great care is taken to see that the bunches are cleaned 00:14:10.001 --> 00:14:12.000 before they leave the plantation. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:32.001 Now as the bananas are loaded aboard the freight cars for the trip to the coast 00:14:32.001 --> 00:14:37.001 and with banana leaves carefully protecting them from the sun, you might like to 00:14:37.001 --> 00:14:41.000 know the banana is one of the few fruits that loses its flavor 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:42.001 if allowed to ripen on the plant. 00:14:43.001 --> 00:14:46.001 The banana must be cut green and ripened artificially. 00:14:47.001 --> 00:14:52.000 While we think of it as a hardy everyday food, this is only because so much care 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:55.001 is taken to see that it arrives at our tables in good condition. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:01.000 Even building a railroad to haul bananas through this tropical 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.000 country is a story in itself. 00:15:03.001 --> 00:15:07.001 One of the first banana railways took 25 years to build only 00:15:07.001 --> 00:15:09.000 a hundred miles of track. 00:15:11.001 --> 00:15:26.000 The ship, one of the great white fleet, meets the train, then begins the race 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:30.000 against time to get the bananas into the air conditioned hull of the ship. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:35.001 It is interesting to know that if it were not for fast transportation, bananas in 00:15:35.001 --> 00:15:40.000 North America and the rest of the world would be a rare delicacy, a fruit no one 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:42.001 could afford to have or to buy. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.001 As workers carry the bunches to the conveyor belt, a man hacks off the end of 00:15:48.001 --> 00:15:52.001 each bunch with the same kind of knife we saw used on the plantation. 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:55.001 Remember, it's called a machete. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:11.000 The conveyor belt, which carries the bananas from the dock to the ship, even has 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:13.000 canvas pockets to protect the fruit. 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:20.000 An inspector watches each bunch as it comes aboard. If he thinks a bunch will 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:23.000 ripen too soon, it is taken off and used like... 00:16:32.001 --> 00:16:35.000 Now the ship is about ready to leave. 00:16:40.001 --> 00:16:47.000 Within 12 hours, 10 million bananas have been taken 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:50.001 aboard and the ship is on its way to the United States. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:05.000 From New York, New Orleans, San Francisco and other ports in the United States, 00:17:05.001 --> 00:17:09.001 bananas are shipped by rail across country in special cars that are kept cool 00:17:09.001 --> 00:17:11.000 in summer, warm in winter. 00:17:22.001 --> 00:17:27.001 Arriving at their destination, the green bananas are bought by the wholesaler who 00:17:27.001 --> 00:17:30.001 hangs them on racks in a warm ripening room. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:36.000 The bunches are kept hanging anywhere from three or four days to a week. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.000 Now a bright golden yellow, the bananas are ready for market. The even 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:50.000 temperature of the ripening room, between 60 and 68 degrees, plus proper humidity 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.001 and ventilation, has brought out the full natural flavor of the fruit. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.001 He's cutting off what we call hands of bananas from the main stem, the color of 00:18:00.001 --> 00:18:02.000 the skin as a guide to ripeness. 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:08.001 Some banana packers sort and grade the fruit for quality and ripeness. In some 00:18:08.001 --> 00:18:14.000 places, you can buy bananas all dressed up in special banded packages, like this. 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:18.001 The golden fruit is now ready for its final trip to your neighborhood market. 00:18:23.001 --> 00:18:27.000 Carefully boxed to keep them from bruising, bananas are bought by the 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:28.001 pound and sold by the pound. 00:18:33.001 --> 00:18:38.001 Does this look familiar? Ah, they've caught her eye. 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:55.001 Bananas are a favorite breakfast fruit in every home. Sliced over hot or cold 00:18:55.001 --> 00:18:58.001 cereal, they top off any dish and help start the day right. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:15.000 School cafeterias that cooperate with state and federal agencies in providing 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:20.000 balanced lunches for children report bananas are among the most popular and best 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:21.001 liked fruits that are served. 00:19:25.001 --> 00:19:29.000 Bananas can be served in many different and many attractive ways. 00:19:29.001 --> 00:19:32.000 Blended with fruits, nuts and gelatin, they provide 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:33.001 high food value and nourishment. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:50.000 Many of us enjoy a mid-afternoon snack when it's a helpful banana milkshake. If 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:55.000 you don't have an electric mixer, just mash a fully ripe banana into mother's 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.000 mixing glass, pour in cold milk and beat until smooth. 00:20:01.001 --> 00:20:06.000 Doesn't that look good? Yes, and it's nourishing too. 00:20:08.001 --> 00:20:13.000 And for dinner, see what mother has for dessert, banana gingerbread shortcake. 00:20:13.001 --> 00:20:16.000 Just another of the many tempting ways in which this 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.000 nutritious fruit can be prepared. 00:20:18.001 --> 00:20:23.000 So now that you've seen where bananas come from before they reach your table, our 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:25.000 journey to banana land has ended. 00:20:25.001 --> 00:20:29.000 We hope you enjoyed the trip. We know you like bananas.